


You, Me, and Your Engram Johnny

by skai6 (Biosahar)



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Also a pain in the ass, And hot, Bottom Kerry Eurodyne, First Kiss, Happy Ending, Hot tub scene, Johnny is a Tease, Just a lot of softness I needed to let out, Kerry & V are soft, Kerry is a hot mess, Love Confessions, M/M, Not so graphic sex, Pre-Relationship, Romance, Top V, Trip to the mountains, V is realizing something, and Johnny is Johnny, he's also shy, so hot, so soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:35:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29165064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Biosahar/pseuds/skai6
Summary: One day, Kerry invites V to his fancy secluded house in the mountains.It's them, nature, and an unresolved romantic tension– and Johnny. Of course, there’s always Johnny.
Relationships: Kerry Eurodyne & Johnny Silverhand, Kerry Eurodyne/Male V, Kerry Eurodyne/V
Comments: 21
Kudos: 215





	You, Me, and Your Engram Johnny

**Author's Note:**

> I literally wrote this in one day. Reason behind it was a dream. Funny fact: I didn't ship Kerry/Male!V before. Now? Whole different story.
> 
> Ps: No beta we die like Johnny! 
> 
> Enjoy <3

  
  
"Drop everything and come pick me up right now."  
  
That was not such an unusual line for V to receive on an early afternoon from Kerry Eurodyne. The rockstar was as impatient as they come. V mistook that for self-centeredness the first time he met him, an attitude to be expected from so famous a figure like himself. Then he came to learn more about Kerry, and that initial media-fabricated view he held of him melted into thin air.  
  
Kerry was an intricate character, rough on the edges, hates being told what to do, and hates to wait. But underneath that, V came to find a softness he oftentimes tires to hide away, and load of signals that tell a different story, one that holds more patience and gentleness and care.  
  
It wasn't until then that V became aware of Kerry's feelings towards him.  
  
Kerry never mentioned a thing, never pushed himself on V. He was patient, cautious, careful. Many times, when V was out helping him with errands, he felt the urge to ask, to break the awkward tension, make a conversation out of it, and every time he did, Kerry changed the subject or distracted them with something else. It came as far as him practically running away mid-conversation by telling V he forgot his stove on.  
  
It was ridiculously obvious by now, so much that V no longer knew what to do about it. Until that one afternoon, while in the middle of a ride out in the badlands, he receives that message.  
  
He thought about calling Kerry, asking him what this was about. If it was another job he needed help with, then it could possibly wait until later in the day. But V thought quickly against it. He might have not been admitting it to himself recently, but getting any sort of attention from the man worked wonders on his mood.  
  
 _"He clearly wants to get inside your pants. Now you want that, too. Great."  
_  
"Oh, fuck off, Johnny."  
  
Then V made a U-turn with his car and drove back to Kerry's mansion.  
  
  
The house rose from a distance as V drove past the gates and entered the front yard. Kerry was waiting for him at the front door, fully dressed and ready, a backpack in his left hand, a phone in the other. When he caught V, he nervously shoved the phone inside his pocket, forced out a relaxed demeanor, then proceeded to open the door in the back to store his belongings.  
  
"You're late."  
  
"I was a long way out of Night City when you texted," said V, glancing him over a second time.  
  
Leather pants, spiky leather jacket, an undershirt with a collar exposing half his chest, a dozen accessories including necklaces and rings, and a pair of opaque sunglasses he refuses to remove even after settling in on the passenger seat. The guy was all out.

"Am I picking you up for a date or something?" V asked, "Is that the job? Am I playing chauffeur?"  
  
"You're funny, V," was all he said to that, then he turned the GPS displayer towards him to type in their destination.  
  
"Take us there," he said, and V nodded carelessly, finding it hard to tear his gaze away from his half-exposed cybernetics-carved chest.  
  
"Sure."  
  
Guess he _was_ playing chauffeur.  
  
 _"You are so painfully obvious you know that?"_  
  
It was Johnny. He had made himself comfortable in the back of the car, one leg swung over the other while he was splayed on the backseat, hands tucked behind his head for support. V paid him no mind.

That was until he gave the GPS another glance and his eyebrows shot upwards.

“Four hours?!” he stated out loud, “Where the hell are we going, Kerry? Thought you needed someone for an NC errand, not a road trip to Atlanta.”

From the painful groan Kerry had to swallow beside him, V knew his statement was terribly misplaced.

“Not Atlanta,” came the answer, “It’s not far from here. The climbing is what takes hours.”

“Climbing?”

“Mountainous terrain, can your wheels handle that?” he smirked, turning to watch V manage a quick confused glimpse towards him, “God, you’re as dense as they come. We’re going on a trip away from fuck-all, V. Got a cabin up there I rarely ever use. Thought you and I could… you know, let NC rot in hell, take a break from everythin’ and… relax.”

While he uttered that last sentence, Kerry’s voice minutely dropped and his glance fell to the dashboard. If it weren’t Kerry of all people, V would think him embarrassed.

_“That’s ‘cause he is, smartass.”_

V was close to calling Johnny out, but then thought twice against it. If anyone, alive or dead, knew Kerry better than he does, it would be Johnny.

With a lungful of air, V let himself relax in his seat. This wasn’t so bad, he reminded himself, he needed this, hell, he _really_ needed it. A day, or even a night out of Night City’s routine was a dream come true. With the biochip inside his head and his health deteriorating daily, one can easily forget the notion of _kicking back and relaxing_. Now, well, it was never too late.

“Thanks, by the way,” V said one hour into the road trip, time they spent exchanging awkward silence and even more awkward small-talk. “Guess I needed to get out.”

_“More like you needed someone to get you out.”_

V rolled his eyes but they both knew Johnny was right.

He was focused on the road, but theirs was the only car on the highway towards a fixed destination, so he let the comfort of safe-driving settle in and turned to watch Kerry curled up in his seat, arms crossed, forehead pressed to the window glass, sunglasses still on.

“Johnny here?”

V lifted up his head to the rearview mirror. Johnny’s reflection shook its head back at him.

_“Tell him no. He’s tryin’ to get personal. Making sure it’s not awkward with me around.”_

“He’s out,” said V, eyes back on the road, “For now. Can keep a message if you want.”

He chuckled.

“Nah, it’s fine,” came the answer, followed by a gaping silence before Kerry continued, “So, uh, you have someone? Like, in your life.”

“Like a partner or somethin’?”

“Yeah.”

“Not really,” he said, shrugging, “Can’t imagine anyone settling for a merc with an engram in his head that likes calling him names.”

Kerry laughed. Johnny didn’t.

_“Asshole.”_

“So,” V continued, clearing his throat, “This a date, after all?”

To which Kerry must have made a face, but V missed it because his GPS was telling him to take the next curve out of the highway. He lowered the speed and turned the wheel on time for the car to enter a bumpy pathway. The shape of the mountains from afar came into clearer view, and V assumed they were close to entering the toughest part of the road trip.

“That snow I’m seeing up there?”

Kerry’s laugh made V second-guess.

“Temperature goes lower the higher you climb. In winter, it’s Mount Fuji up there.”

“Fuck.”

“Told you it wasn’t gonna be an easy ride.”

V turned to him with an amused frown.

“Should’ve also told me it was a date.”

Now, he could see it clearly. The faint embarrassment coloring Kerry’s cheeks for a brief moment. He watched him slide back in his seat, fingers peeling the sunglasses away. His eyes were hooded, a mixture of shy and tired. He looked out of the window shortly, noticing he was only delaying the answer, then turned back to V.

“Didn’t know how else to ask, I’m fuckin’ terrible at this,” he admitted, fingers fiddling nervously with his necklace. “This cool with you, I hope?”

_“Quick. Do something. Guy’s getting self-conscious.”_

_Do what?_

_“Don’t know. Make out with ‘im or get inside his pants right here right now.”_

_Jesus, Johnny. Too early for that._

Johnny had something to say to that, but V was not having it right now.

“Of course, Kerry,” he said, instead, eyes shifting between Kerry’s hopeful eyes and the road getting stubbornly bumpier, “Hell, it makes this even better.”

_“Nice.”_

Kerry let out a sigh he seemed to have been holding in for the entirety of the road. A swift glance to the side later and V caught him smiling to himself.

Two hours in and V was starting to regret his decision. Not that Kerry was getting any less attractive, on the very contrary, now that the awkwardness had passed by, he was indulging V more than ever. Talking, making jokes, teasing. V loved that part, truly. It was the steep, snowy, mountainous road stretching ahead of him that drained every bit of his concentration – and his car’s engine.

If he had known they would be driving up a mountain, V would have asked Claire for her all-terrain truck “Beast”, instead of taking Johnny’s street-only Porsche. The car was pretty sturdy, still, and V had taken it uphill one too many times, but a hill and a mountain are two entirely different things.

“Fuck, engine temperature’s high,” he cursed half-way up the third curve, “Gotta park here somewhere. Think there’re other cars that could be driving back down?”

Kerry’s almost-too-comfortable smile caught V by surprise.

“Don’t wanna be that guy who says _the mountain’s mine_ but the mountain’s mine, V. There are no _other cars_.”

“Your – fuckin’ what now?”

 _“Fuck me”_ said Johnny behind.

“Just you and me,” said Kerry with a proud grin, “And the cabin, if you manage to get us up to the mountaintop.”

“Fuckin’ watch me.”

That came out more excited than he meant to let out. He decided to push through the third curve and give the car a breather through the next one. There was no need for him to park, in the end, when the ground leveled back for a few stretched miles and the engine’s temperature sank back to normal, preparing for what was yet to come.

“If you can afford a whole mountain,” brought up V after a while, “Can’t you get yourself one of those hovercrafts?”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” came Kerry’s answer, “I’d rather watch you struggle your way to the top, V. Somethin’ about it… I dunno, _hot_ , I guess.”

“Yeah?” V turned to him with a pleased side-grin, “Think I’m hot?”

“Oh, come on,” Kerry mumbled against his knuckles, nervously nibbling at the set of rings. V had never seen him so flustered before. “You know you are, I mean – have you seen you?”

Kerry held his stare as he said that, full lips slightly parted and blue eyes filled with longing, and if it weren’t for the tedious mouth-dropping curve-from-hell approaching ahead, V would have done something about this unresolved tension they’ve been sharing from the start.

“Eyes up ahead, V,” said Kerry, having noticed the delay with amusement, “If you’re planning to get us there in one piece.”

“What’s the alternative?”

“You and I both kissing the ground from a five-thousand-feet elevation.”

“Exactly how I plan to go.”

Kerry laughed loudly at that, and V patted himself in the back to push through the final line. His stomach did a flip three consecutive times, between the car wheels grazing the mountain edge, the engine screeching in absolute horror, and Kerry’s hand landing on his thigh.

His grip was growing tighter by the second, and only after V was finally seeing the surface of an even ground did he feel his hand start to unclench. He understood, then, that he was not the only one fearing for his life.

 _“Make that three,”_ said Johnny in the back, _“My heart is bleeding for my ride. Dump a fortune on Claire to have her look over the car once you’re back or I’ll never give you my blessings.”_

“Concerning the Porsche or Kerry?”

Kerry turned to him with a confused stare, and V realized he had just spoken out aloud.

“Oh, sorry, that was –“

“Johnny?”

“Yeah.”

Then Kerry’s hand left his thigh faster than humanly possible.

_“Offended.”_

_Shut up. You ruined the moment. Good job._

Johnny rolled his eyes and threw himself back in his seat with crossed arms.

Up ahead, V could finally see the end of the line. His chest filled with an excitement similar to the kind expressed by someone who reaches land after days spent on the sea. It was a mixture of fulfillment and nostalgia, of _I made it_ and _the road back down will be a ride in the park._

“Over there,” said Kerry.

He was pointing beyond the thick pine trees populating the snow-cloaked area, and as V drove closer, the sight of the house rose to view.

“You call _this_ a cabin?” said V, stating the obvious, “Place’s gigantic!”

“It’s average,” Kerry insisted, “You got us here alive. Now you got my respect.”

“Just respect?” scoffed V, “The way I worked my way around those curves deserves a damn award.”

Kerry grinned, then patted his thigh a second time.

“You’ll get one in time,” he said, “Park us up front and let’s get the hell out of here. My ass’s gotten numb.”

“Wish I could say the same thing about my nerves.”

They exited the car under a shower of snow, and for being both terribly underdressed, ended up on the front porch with clicking teeth. Upon approach, the door parted open and the two slipped into the warmth of the house.

“Nice _cabin_ , Kerry,” teased V, letting his eyes wander around, “What else you got here? A Jacuzzi?”

“Yeah, why, wanna go in now?”

V turned to him expecting a grin. Kerry couldn’t look more serious.

“Uh, maybe later,” he quickly added, clearing up his throat, “Can I borrow a coat? Need to give the Porsche a quick check-up or I’ll never get Johnny off my ass.”

_“Nice save. But seriously, go check up on it.”_

“Sure,” said Kerry, “Hold on a sec.”

He disappeared into one of the rooms and V gave the place another look-over in the meantime. It was a one-story household with a high ceiling and a dozen rooms, all highly designed, well-equipped, and ready for use. The area was impeccably clean, too, which answered V’s question on how many times Kerry must be visiting, which was _not so many_.

“Here,” announced Kerry’s voice on the way back. V turned to find him approaching with an expensive-looking fur coat in hand. “One of my own. ‘S yours now.”

“You sure?” V hesitated, gently grabbing the clothing piece and brushing his hand over the soft material. “Thanks, Kerry.”

“Course. You know where to find me when you’re back.”

V nodded absent-mindedly, pretending to know what he meant by that, then fitted properly into the coat before heading out.

_“Think about how many animals went extinct for you to be wearing this.”_

“Thanks, Johnny. Didn’t need the reminder.”

He stomped on the trail of snowy path he walked on his way in, and having reached the car, lifted up the front hood and spent the next ten minutes tempering with the radiator to get the car’s temperature gauge back to working. A dozen failures later – and a Johnny who wouldn’t shut up about it – V managed to start the engine and watch the temperature regulate.

 _“’Bout fuckin’ time,”_ groaned Johnny, standing leaned against the side of the hood, _“Kerry must’ve moved on by now. Fucked a snowman or somethin’.”_

“And whose fault is it?”

_“Shut it. Get back inside and get ‘im laid. Guy’s been eating you up with his eyes through the whole ride. Never seen him so hung up on someone like that before.”_

“Giving me a pep talk now? Thanks, Johnny, but the only help I need is for you to stop butting into our moments. It’s… distracting.”

_“I’m hot. What can I say?”_

V rolled his eyes at him, shut the car hood closed, then headed back inside.

He hung the coat on a rack by the entrance and kicked his boots off before walking into the heart of the house. He tried guessing where Kerry was, then picked up on the sound of faint water splashing from a distance and headed towards the source. The door came open for him and V entered an area secluded from the rest of the house. It appeared, at first glance, like a back veranda with an extra glass-covered ceiling, then as V ventured further in and the rising humidity came warming up his skin, he realized it was more than that.

“Over here.”

Kerry was waving at him from inside a sixteen-feet large hot tub with a view over the landscape below the mountain. The view was strikingly beautiful, but V found Kerry’s nakedness just as distracting.

“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” he said, stretching his arms over the tub’s edge, white hair and golden cybernetics glistening under the light of the candles.

“…Yeah,” sighed V, “Gorgeous.”

“Why don’t you join me, then?”

_“Jesus, this is painful to watch.”_

_Not now, Johnny –_

Too late. The hologram had already invited himself inside the tub right next to Kerry and V wanted to groan in annoyance, but Kerry was looking at him again, an expression of worry dawning on his face.

“Sorry,” he said, rubbing the back of his next, “Too much?”

“No, no, just – ah, fuck it.”

V quickly decided against mentioning Johnny a second time. Instead, he unzipped his jacket and began slipping out of his clothes while heading towards the direction of the tub. Kerry seemed pleased with the progression of the events. His eyes had long left V’s face to trail down his body, and when his jeans hit the ground, V caught his teeth sinking into his bottom lip with ravenous eagerness.

“Like what you see?”

“Absolutely.”

_“Just fuck already, Jesus.”_

Having been ignored enough times, Johnny eventually gave up and disappeared. V used the opportunity to dip into the warm water, settle in the spot across from Kerry, and focus his attention entirely on him.

Despite the eroticism of it all, there was something innately romantic about the setting. It could have been the candle-lit dimness of the room, the wide picturesque view of the glass walls that gave into what lied beyond, the soft music playing in the background, or the expression on Kerry’s face that V had never seen him wear before.

It was a combination of fondness and longing, the kind shared between intimate partners. It was clear that Kerry saw him under that light. The hesitance, the not acting upon it, however, V only came to understand the reason behind it now. Kerry was afraid V would misunderstand, that he would think his interest in him misplaced, that V would be stupid enough to think it was forwarded towards Johnny instead.

V might have thought that once. But now? Now, he could see, clear as day, that Kerry wanted him for more than just his vessel. The calling, the texting, _this_. All were signs that he cared enough to share an evening, as private as this, in a place as far away from society as possible, with him, of all people.

“Hey,” V started, watching Kerry’s eyes glimmer with some sort of hope, “I know I already said this but, thank you for inviting me here, Kerry. Really enjoying myself.”

Kerry smiled and his eyelashes fluttered to drive his gaze away – either out of embarrassment of he was actively distracted. V took the moment to follow the line of water droplets sliding down his neck, over his golden Cyberware lines and below his chest to disappear into the body of water. He still had his necklaces on, and he peeled one of the set to start nibbling at its edge.

“Don’t thank me, V,” he said, “Had my intentions, y’know, for inviting you here.”

“Yeah? What’ll that be?”

Kerry swallowed silently, his breathing growing slowly uneven. V could tell from miles away that the guy was nervous. He’d just never seen him act like this before in front of him, and that did things to V he could not quite put a finger on.

It made him want to close the distance between them, and he had started to, when Kerry quickly picked up on it and said:

“Johnny around?”

“Why? Does it bother you if he is?”

“No, ‘s just –“ He hesitated, then exhaled. “Never mind.”

“He’s not here,” said V, then let himself float into the middle of the hot tub, “C’mere, Ker.”

He extended a hand over and upon minute contemplation, Kerry reached out and held it. Their fingers brushed with a sparking touch. V felt it course through his humid skin as he pulled Kerry towards him. They stood there, inches apart, gazing at each other’s lips, until Kerry made the first move.

It was his hand, large and warm, that touched him first. It pressed against V’s chest, and he felt it trail up to his shoulder, graze the side of his neck and curl behind the back of it. Then his lips were next, soft, plump, resting against V’s with little to no pressure. V let his eyelids fall closed, let himself be consumed by the sudden wave of elation that flooded his system.

It was like nothing he had before. To have his lips kissed with such cautiousness and care. Kerry did not press any further, did not urge for more. He held them still, let them share the moment, and when V thought of pulling away, his breath hitched, and Kerry followed the motion, unwilling to let go.

The amount of feelings he was putting into the gesture had V forget himself for moments to come. When he finally pulled away – and this time it was to Kerry’s lead – he was left with a warm chest, tingling lips, and breathless lungs. In front of him, Kerry was undergoing the same effect with parted lips and a short breath.

“Fuck,” he whispered shortly after, as if the realization just hit him. “This was –"

“Real?” finished V, his hand cupping Kerry’s cheek and he watched him instantly dart his eyes towards him, “You’re crazy gentle for someone with so many years behind ‘im.”

Kerry seemed to relax a little, silently laughing at the comment. His hand, against V’s chest, began moving lower, now caressing V’s abdomen.

“Crazy is that I’m doin’ all this without a sip of alcohol in my system.”

“You serious?” said V, “Need to be drunk to kiss someone?”

“It’s you, V, not just _someone_. The amount of attention you’re attractin’, do you even notice it yourself? Fuck, V, you’re more than what you think you are. You’re – ”

V didn’t need him to finish. He knew what Kerry was trying to convey.

“Hey,” said V, leaning in to whisper against his ear, “How about we take this elsewhere?”

Kerry didn’t need to be told twice. The look in his eyes sparked with interest, and the next thing V knew, he was being dragged out of the hot tub and through the house. Their drenched bodies dripped all over the carpet before they fell on the silky bed sheet. Under him, Kerry parted his legs invitingly, and V’s last hint of hesitation melted into thin air.

He took him like he’d never taken anyone before. There were many emotions floating in the open and with each grinding of his hips, V was touching them all at once. Kerry’s lips were cursing out a string of words that hardly made any sense, mixed up with a series of moans the whole neighborhood would have heard if they had one. But here, now, it was just them and the mountain. The mountain with its pine trees and white snow, far, far away from all the trouble of life V had ever known.

V liked it here. He liked it up high where air could hardly seep into his lungs, where he is unsure whether it is the altitude to blame or Kerry’s burning insides that squeezed him just the right amount for him to lose his thread of thoughts.

This was more than sex. He knew that. Kerry knew that. And that was precisely the reason he brought him here in the first place. This was a confession. V had expected as much, and maybe he would’ve run away while he could, if this was not Kerry.

Kerry _fucking_ Eurodyne. Since when was he so _hot_? So _intense_? Did it happen overnight or was V’s longing growing overtime? All he knew was that right now, spread under him, Kerry was all he’d ever wanted and more.

“Fuck, _fuck –“_ came his cry, “Keep lookin’ at me like that and I’ll, ah, I’ll come, _fuck_ , I’m comin’, V, I’m –“

Something swirled in the pit of V’s stomach as he drilled inside Kerry with the last remainder of strength left in him. Kerry clenched his fists on the headboard behind him and threw his head back, mouth agape, full-body convulsing to the power of the orgasm that dawned on him at once. V couldn’t contain himself after that. He began pulling out of him when Kerry’s grip came clutching against his forearm.

“’s fine –“ he gasped between intimate breaths, “Come inside me.”

And V wasn’t left with much of a choice after that.

They lasted two more rounds, in which Kerry had shown V things he didn’t know he’d been missing until then. He tied him to the bed and rode him like there was no tomorrow, then begged to be tied next and bent down on his knees and fucked against the window to the view of all that which lied beyond. In both cases, V had lost it to an orgasm so intense he’d seen white for a while.

Hours later, V was curled up in a corner of the vast living room couch. Kerry returned to his side with a glass of something strong and an additional layer over his skin, a loosely fastened bathrobe. V put the glass aside and gripping the man by his belt, pulled him onto his lap instead. Their lips came touching almost instinctively and to V, the moment held no sense of urgency. It was pendent, everlasting. Kerry’s lips on his were an unhurried experience.

“You’re lookin’ at me like _that_ again,” sighed Kerry with a contented smile.

“Like what?”

“Like you’ve got somethin’ to tell me.”

V’s mouth dropped, hesitating.

_“He’s not wrong, V.”_

Johnny’s voice was a redundant presence in his head.

_“Time to admit it. It’s now or never. There’s only so long a man can wait.”_

_And you’d know?_

_“Yeah, I’d know. Cause I missed my chance once and look at where I am now.”_

V was taken aback by the statement.

_Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Johnny._

“Look,” sighed Kerry, pulling slowly away, “if this is too much, I get it, I’ll just –"

V’s hands cupped his cheeks just on time.

“It’s not,” he said, “Too much. You’re not too much, Kerry. You’re – fuck, I’m bad with words but one thing I’ve gotta say is this, _all this,_ is not just one-sided. You, texting me. You, bringing me here. You, holding me. It was mutual. Every single bit. I wanted it just as much, Kerry. I –"

Kerry’s lips came pressing against V’s and V let himself sink into the feeling.

“I know,” he said, breathing out a sigh, “You don’t need so say it, V. I know. Was afraid, all this time, that you’d think I was after Johnny. And – maybe I was. In the beginning. Out of habit. Reaching out for someone I couldn’t have before. Someone I lost and was just so beyond myself knowing he was back again. But now it’s different, after I got to know you, V, things – _everything_ is different.”

“Kerry…"

“You make me feel alive, V. You make me feel so alive. I want you. Fuck, I _love_ you.”

“Oh, god, Kerry –"

Kerry kissed him with every bit of feeling he had to offer and V felt it seep through to reach his own. They remained like that for minutes to come, exchanging caresses and lazy kisses until Kerry’s exhaustion worn him out and V pulled him to lie over his chest. Outside, the snowstorm carried on heavier than ever, and after watching it unfold for a while, V fell into a peaceful sleep.

He woke up to a soft wetness at the tip of his lips. V opened his eyes to Kerry laying a trail of kisses from his mouth down to his neck. When their eyes met, Kerry’s grin spread across his cheeks.

“Morning, sleepyhead.”

“Mhm. Hey.”

“’m starving. Are you? Think I got some refrigerated food in the fridge.”

V couldn’t help out a laugh.

“Can I just cook?”

“You can what now?”

V forced his tired eyes open to glance at him.

“Cook?”

“You can _cook_?”

V’s frown was prominent.

“Yeah?”

“Holy fuck,” said Kerry, pushing himself up in a sitting position, “So, uh, is it, like, cool with you if I propose right now or –"

“All right, calm down,” laughed V, rubbing his eyes, “’s just cooking. And I’m not _that_ good at it. I can make pretty damn good pancakes, though. Want some pancakes?”

“That even a question? Hell fuckin’ yeah, I do!”

“Great, now go grab a shower or somethin’ before I get distracted.”

Kerry pushed himself up with a sultry grin. He looked gorgeous in his disheveled hair and half-undone bathrobe. He pressed a lone kiss on V’s forehead and turned to walk tentatively out of the living room.

“Maybe later,” he winked, “Right now, ‘m desperate for real pancakes.”

V found himself smiling even long after he was gone and the shower started running.

They had a heart-warming breakfast, in which Johnny had to butt in to remind V that he was a horrible human being for consuming actual food under his artificial nose. V told Kerry and they both laughed at his misery. Kerry was very close, V must admit, to _actually proposing_. So smitten he was by the pancakes, he’d eaten until his stomach had blown out, then he had to take an extra nap to digest before they could hit the road.

There was a sense of sadness washing over V as they climbed back inside the car and the view of the house shrunk in the horizon. He felt he was leaving part of him in there, part of him that was happy away from everything, from Night City, from violence, from _life_. Then he lowered his gaze to the hand that came squeezing his thigh warmly. Beside him, Kerry was smiling.

“Don’t look like you’re about to cry,” he said, “We’ll come back here next month, if you feel up to another driving challenge.”

“I’ll come prepared,” said V with a grin. In the back seat, Johnny popped out of thin air.

_“I’d rather die than sit through another two-hour sex marathon with the two of you, so forget about it.”_

V laughed at that and when Kerry asked, he told him.

“C’mon, Johnny, you’ve done worse. Suck it up, choom.”

And just like that, the three went on an unusually fulfilling trip back home.


End file.
